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(DEPT OF JUSTICE RELEASE) - A former Shelby County Sheriff’s Office deputy has been indicted for soliciting a person to murder a witness in a federal case. Lawrence J. Laurenzi, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, announced the superseding indictment today.

Jeremy Drewery, 42, of Arlington, Tennessee, was indicted last September for attempting to extort thousands of dollars from an alleged drug dealer in August of 2016. In March, additional charges were added to the indictment, which alleged an incident of extortion of another alleged drug dealer in late 2013.

The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office has since received information that Drewery solicited a person to kill one of the witnesses in the earlier indictment and notified the FBI.

Drewery was assigned to the Shelby County’s Sheriff’s Office’s Narcotics Task Force, but has since been terminated from the department.

On Thursday, July 13, 2017, Drewery had his initial appearance in federal court before U.S. Magistrate Judge Charmiane G. Claxton.

Drewery is charged with two counts of Hobbs Act Extortion; two counts of Receipt of a Bribe by a Government Agent; and one count of Solicitation to Commit a Crime of Violence.

If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

This case is being investigated by the Tarnished Badge Task Force, which is comprised of investigators from the FBI, Memphis Police Department and the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Reagan M. Taylor and Mark Erskine are prosecuting this case on the government’s behalf.

The charges and allegations in the indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Copyright 2018 Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.